Outstanding issues of concern to so-called ‘new entrants’ – staff who entered the public service in 2011 or after – are set to be reviewed, according to a text agreed by public service unions and management.

The general issue of pay disparities between new entrants and longer-serving staff was resolved by an agreement reached last autumn, but some unions have expressed concerns about it.

The solution didn’t address the 2011 withdrawal of allowances from new entrants either. Historically, these had made up a significant part of total income for some public service grades.

Now, a text agreed by the parties says that “outstanding issues of concern” about new entrant pay scales “will be given full consideration either by any pay review mechanism agreed by the parties, or in the context of the next round of pay talks.”